HAMBURG (Reuters) – Germany’s government is considering proposals to phase out the use of biofuels produced from food or animal feed crops by 2030, the German biofuels industry association (VDB) said on Tuesday, adding the measure could increase carbon emissions.
German environment minister Steffi Lemke said on Jan. 17 she will soon send proposals to the cabinet to withdraw from use of crop-based biofuels in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Lemke had said previously in May 2022 she wanted to turn the country away from crop-based biofuels, instead intensifying the use of biofuels produced from garbage, wastes and used edible oil.
Lemke and German agriculture minister Cem Oezdemir, both members of the Green party in Germany’s ruling coalition, have in the past called for the end of food crops in biofuel production, saying food is too valuable to be used for fuel output.
The VDB, however, said draft proposals to cut crop-based biofuel use would mean an increase in Germany’s transport carbon dioxide emissions by around 32 million tonnes up to 2030.
Under Germany’s climate protection law, only 85 million tonnes of CO2 may be emitted by transport in 2030. In 2021, Germany’s transport sector emitted about 148 million tonnes of CO2, according to figures from the environment ministry.
Lemke’s office was not immediately available to comment on the VDB’s claim.
Germany’s programme to cut greenhouse gases includes the use of blending biofuels including biodiesel and bioethanol with diesel and gasoline to reduce emissions from road vehicles.
Oil companies have a greenhouse gas reduction target which they partly achieve with biodiesel often made from rapeseed oil or waste vegetable oils and bioethanol produced at times from grains or sugar.
The proposals would promote the use of more fossil fuels in road transport, said association CEO Elmar Baumann.
Just over 500,000 hectares of Germany’s total winter rapeseed area of 1.07 million hectares is used in most years for biodiesel. Reports of a phasing out of crops for biofuel production caused a fall in EU rapeseed prices in past days. [GRA/EU]
Germany previously announced it will ban palm oil use in biofuel production from 2023.
(Reporting by Michael Hogan, editing by Vin Shahrestani)
